• Use the money on something else • Tsunami preparedness • Please help us! Use the money on something else Thank you, Michael Levine, for your fine in-depth article on the bike path (“The path of least resistance,” The Garden
• Use the money on something else • Tsunami preparedness • Please help us!
Use the money on something else
Thank you, Michael Levine, for your fine in-depth article on the bike path (“The path of least resistance,” The Garden Island, March 5).
Maybe someone can tell me how the millions of dollars of federal and local funds being spent on this path will benefit all the people on Kaua‘i? An existing bike path is already in place along our highway and is available to bikes, motor scooters, walkers and joggers.
This highway path meets the federal transportation enhancement qualifications for a bike path that states, “a bike path will be used for transportation and not recreation unless otherwise given permission by the secretary of transportation.”
Obviously the segmented path that is now being built doesn’t meet this requirement as it will never take one car off the highway — it is recreational at best.
The amount of money and untold dollars in administrative costs being spent on this project are ridiculous as well as causing untold friction between our native Hawaiian community and the administration.
Take those “shovel ready” funds and use them on direly needed projects that will benefit everyone — roads, the recreation areas, the 600 homeless people on Kaua‘i — not just on a segmented path that will be used by “some” Eastside people.
Glenn Mickens, Kapa‘a
Tsunami preparedness
I am an off-island permanent resident but I have been coming to Kaua‘i since 1993. I have read and heard for years about the force and danger of a tsunami. Having come from an area which has experienced numerous hurricanes and related tidal flooding over my lifetime I respect your need for adequate notification of an impending dangerous tsunami.
I would like to suggest some types of warning that are not presently in place.
The local community television studio could produce a video to be shown on local public channels the hours preceding the arrival of the wave. The video could be done in conjunction with local Civil Defense personnel.
Hotel visitors, condo occupants and new arrivals could watch the video and familiarize themselves with what they need to do. Evacuation areas could be shown on maps. Routes to the nearest shelters and areas of high ground which are a save distance from the shoreline should be highlighted. Instructions on what they need to do to be safe and what to bring with them and what to leave behind should be noted.
Finally they need to know how to recognize when the emergency is over. This is a video project that would take time to prepare. It could be reviewed from time to time and updated.
Renée Ziegner, Cape Cod, Mass.
Please help us!
In response to the person who is upset with the police on the South Shore:
After reading “South Shore under siege” (Letters, March 5), I envy the people on the South Shore. I would give anything if the police came to the North Shore, even if only for a day.
The speeding on this island has gotten out of hand. When our cat was killed right in front of our condo, I immediately went to the police station and talked with Lt. Mike Contrades. He was very understanding while explaining that there is not a lot they can do because we live in a private community. He even took the time to conduct a test with me. He drove by my condo three times while I watched from the lanai and told him what speed I thought he was driving. I guessed on the nose two out of three times.
I suggested that he come visit us any time of the day or night. He could sit on our lanai and count at least 10 drivers per hour driving by at least 10 mph over the speed limit.
I escalated my request by writing to Chief Darryl Perry. Shortly afterward, he submitted a report to The Garden Island, giving the results of a stealth test that was done on Pepelani Loop; however, after my husband talked with the person who had installed the equipment, we discovered that, due to the curve in the road, it was not capable of recording accurate information. Therefore, the test proved nothing and was a waste of time.
Chief Perry sent a letter to me on Aug. 13, 2008, stating that “the empirical evidence is irrefutable” so I gave up. Since then, the situation has deteriorated.
There is little regard for the speed limit in Princeville, and it is most evident on Ka Haku where most drivers exceed the 25 mph posted speed limit. I even saw a white pickup truck pass a motorist on Pepelani Loop yesterday morning.
We live in a condo complex where the speed limit is 10 mph, but I can count on one hand the number of residents who pay any attention to it. I even bought a radar gun to prove that changing the name of our street to Pepelani Raceway is justified.
There are a lot of small children and animals in our neighborhood. Is it going to take the death of a human before people pay attention to what is happening here? If the real estate market wasn’t so depressed, we would move to a house at the end of the cul-de-sac to try to get away from this very serious problem.
The police are supposed to serve and protect, and we would not consider it to be harassment or annoyance if they invaded our community with their ticket books in hand.
Bonnie Stowe, Princeville
